Duration: 4:52

Sen. John McCain on Friday accused his rival of being connected to a group it said was conducting voter fraud, calling for federal investigations and media inquiries into the progressive group ACORN and its ties to Sen. Barack Obama. In a conference call with reporters, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said he is worried the election is being "stolen" in several battleground states where irregularities have been discovered in voter registrations collected by ACORN, the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now . "We don't think the election is something that should be stolen from the American electorate," Davis said, calling on Obama to join him in calling for the inquiries. "ACORN is an organization that has violated the law on a repeated basis," Davis said. "Barack Obama has given $832,000 within the last year to an organization that is a front group for ACORN." The campaign put its accusations into a 90-second Web ad titled "ACORN," in which an announcer declares Obama "a man with a political baptism performed at warp speed" who has "vast ambition." The ad accuses ACORN of "bullying banks, intimidation tactics" and "disruption of business." It says ACORN stands accused of "massive voter fraud" and says that "Obama's ties to ACORN run long and deep. He taught classes for ACORN. They even endorsed him for President." Obama-Biden spokesman Tommy Vietor dismissed the charges. "Today's conference call was another effort by the McCain campaign to throw out false charges to 'turn the page' from the issues that matter to American families. Barack Obama strongly condemns voter registration fraud or any other breach of election law by any party or group," Vietor said. "The McCain campaign's allegations about Sen. Obama are completely transparent and false. He believes that the registration of voters at record levels is good for our democracy, and the McCain-Palin campaign's false claims are nothing more than another dishonorable, shameful attempt to divert voters' attention from the unprecedented challenges facing their families and our nation." The voter registration group has come under increased scrutiny since its offices in Nevada were raided Tuesday morning. Agents with the Nevada Secretary of State and Attorney General's office raided their Clark County headquarters, alleging that ACORN had hired felons to collect signatures and had submitted about 300 apparently fraudulent registration cards. In the conference call, Davis questioned why the media has not examined more closely the relationship between ACORN and Obama's campaign. He alleged that Obama's campaign had paid $832,000 to a group called Citizens Services, Inc., which Davis labeled "a front organization" for ACORN. He accused Obama's campaign of initially trying to hide its payments to the group by labeling the payment "events services" in their disclosure forms. "There was an effort to hide the fact" that the money went to ACORN, Davis alleged. "I think we've clearly established that what Barack Obama says about his relationship with ACORN over 20 years of activity, and even most recently ... is somehow different than what he's trying to lead the public to believe."